Lord Alan's story
by Goddess of Reality
Summary: Lord Alan the cold, uncaring father of one of Tortal's greatest legends... or is he?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Everything here belongs to Tamora Pierce except the characters I have made up.

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Birth

"Don't just stand there! Do something!" the distraught young Lord screamed at the midwife. "Save her, use your Gift, do something!"

"I am sorry, my Lord of Trebond. My apprentice and I have done everything we can. It is the will of the gods," Maude, the village healing woman, said gently.

"No! It cannot be. There has to be something!" Lord Alan of Trebond cried, desperately running his hand through his red-brown hair as he mentally went through all the healing spells he had memorised over the years.

"I have it!" he cried, running over to clasp the hand of the pale, sweaty figure lying motionless on the bed.  
Maude looked on apprehensively as the young lord started to mutter a spell. She felt the power build, and as the spell finished, it disappeared. Lord Alan fell to the floor sobbing. Maude moved towards Lord Alan and put a comforting hand on his shoulder. He jerked away from her touch.

"Don't touch me!" he screamed.

"Alan?" came a soft voice from the bed.  
In an instant, Lord Alan was at his wife's side, holding her hand and kissing it.

"Yes, Dearest?"

"Where are our babies?" she asked looking around.

"Maude's apprentice is bathing them, love."

"I want to hold them."

"You can. But first you need to rest" Alan replied, stroking his wife's sweat-dampened blonde hair, still holding her hand.

"No," she replied, struggling to get up. "I want to see them now. I want to hold them."

"Alright, sweet, alright" Lord Alan soothed his wife, laying her back  
down on the pillows gently. "Maude, go and get the twins."  
Maude returned as quickly as possible, laying a twin in each of her  
dying mistress' arms. The Lady of Trebond smiled tiredly up at her.

"Aren't they the most beautiful things you have ever seen?"

"Yes, my lady. They are," replied Maude, backing away to let the family have what would be their only time together as a full family.

"Look at their eyes, Alan. They are purple. Have you ever seen anything like it?" Maude heard her mistress whisper, as she closed the door behind her.

"No, darling" Alan replied gazing down at his wife and children with  
tears running down his face as his wife looked lovingly from one child to the other.

"What shall we call them?" he asked her.

"How about we name the girl, Alanna after you, and the boy, Thom after my brother?"

"Perfect," Alan replied, kissing her forehead.  
Alan's wife looked up at him, smiling sadly, with tears running down her  
cheeks.

"Look after them, Alan. Alanna is going to do great things one day and  
Thom is going to be very powerful."

"I will, I will. But you will be here to help me!" Alan protested.

"No." she replied laying her head back on her pillows and closing her  
eyes. "I'm so tired."

"Yes, you will. I will use my Gift. Maude will use hers."

"Maude is all out, and so are you, after that last spell of yours. Don't try anything else. I want you here, not passed out on the floor."  
Alan smiled through his tears at her attempt at a joke.

"I will be here always," he promised her.  
She smiled at him.

"Kiss me Alan, and then sing me our song," she whispered. Alan leaned over her, careful not to disturb the sleeping babies, and kissed his wife for the last time, then started to sing their song.

Half an hour later Maude knocked lightly and entered the Lady's  
bedchamber. Lord Alan was holding his wife's hand and she was still holding the sleeping twins. Lord Alan looked up at Maude with dry but red eyes.

"She is dead. Our Gifts could not save her. They should have," he said in a flat tone of voice. "From now on, I shall never use my Gift again and the twins, should they prove to have the Gift as well, shall never learn. Do I make myself clear?"

"But my lord-" Maude started to protest, but the Lord of Trebond cut her off.

"Do I make myself clear?" he repeated menacingly.

"Yes, my lord."  
With that, Lord Alan strode out of the room, never to re-enter it until the night he died. Maude turned and picked up the twins from their dead mother's arms. Alanna started fussing.

"Hush, you poor wee things."

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Author's note: Well what do you think of my first ever Fan Fiction story? I have some ideas for some further chapters for this story but they may be some time in coming. So let me now what u think and if I got anything wrong.

My thanks go out to Pink Squishy Llama, Sarramaks, Alex Rose and Lela-of-Bast for being my first ever reviewers. Special thanks go to Drop Your Oboe for editing my grammar for me.


	2. Chapter 2

AN: Chapter 2 is finally up! yay for me. btw i do not own any of the characters they all belong to Tamora Pierce. o and i wasnt sure of the name of Alannas aunt who tried to get Lord Alan to marry her all my book are at home... so if i got it wrong let me know.

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Onwards Towards Destiny

Lord Alan of Trebond stood at the window of his tower study room and watched his children ride towards their new lives until they were out of sight. With a sigh, he turned from the window and walked over to his desk and picked up a framed portrait of his wife who had died ten years previously giving birth to the twins Lord Alan had just watched ride away. He sighed again and ran a hand through his hair holding the painting in his other hand.

"Dearest," he said to the smiling picture of his beloved, "There is so much that I regret about the way that I bought up our children. However, Darling it was so hard. They look so much like you it hurts to look at them. Especially little Alanna, so I kept them at a distance but to make up for it I made sure that I knew everything that they were doing, but without them knowing. As I told you before I knew when Maude started teaching them magic and I was glad because I know what an untrained mage can do and it saved me from having to admit I was wrong and arrange for them a teacher. I knew when Coram taught Alanna as well as Thom the basic skills of a warrior should know and I know that Alanna is extraordinary talented in those areas. I also know that it was Alanna and Thom that bewitched Lady Catherine and made her leave which I was thankful for as I had tried my best to dissuade the gold digging wretch, forgive me for insulting your kin but you know it is true, and I was starting to run out of ideas."

Lord Alan sighed again and sat in one of the two overstuffed armchairs by the fireplace and placed that late Lady of Trebond's portrait on the arm of the chair and still look into her eyes and talk to her.

"But this I have talked to you about many times before. Just wait until I tell you what their latest idea is. You will never guess, or maybe you already know judging by what you told me when they were born. As you know Alanna and Thom are now of the age that they shall go to the convent and the palace to begin their Knight and Lady training, but the blessed little devils have switched places. Thom is going to the convent to begin his training as a sorcerer until such time as the priestesses see fit as to send him on to continue his training at the City of the Gods and Alanna has disguised herself as a boy and is going to train as a knight. That will be hard for her and I wish her the best. Alanna and Thom have no idea that I know all of this. They think I do not care. How I would love to take them into my arms and tell them that I do, but after so many years it is hard. My way of caring will have to be that I wont ruin their plans and let them fulfill their destiny".

The large oak grandfather clock in the corner chimed making the Lord of Trebond jump. He looked at the clock as his stomach growled as he realized that it was lunchtime. He rose from the chair and placed his wife's portrait back in its place on his desk.

"Well my Darling I am off to see what Cook has made today."

Lord Alan kissed his fingertip and pressed it to the portrait's red lips then turned around and walked out the door letting it slowly close behind him.

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End file.
